By Marcy Stamper
“If you think about it, why is our entire town pretty much one big race?”
That question from a seventh-grader was raised as students at Liberty Bell High School reflected on the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. last week.
“We’re basically the same people. We come from the same race. People are making such a big deal about the color of people’s skin — it’s just B.S.,” said a classmate.
“Maybe people were afraid about what it means to be different,” said a seventh grader in David Aspholm’s world history class. “It’s a human reflex to judge people around you — to guess, based on their clothes or their hair, if they don’t have money, or if they have tons of money,” said another.
In a special assembly, approximately 250 Liberty Bell students heard a talk about King’s ideas for creating a more inclusive environment. After the lecture, students questioned a panel of community members and explored these issues and their own attitudes in more depth in class.
During his talk, Donte Quinine asked students to pair up, look each other in the eye, and say whatever comes to mind when they think about terms such as Native American, gay or lesbian, poor, Latino or white. Quinine, the director of Student Life, Outreach and Recruitment at Wenatchee Valley College, was impressed by students’ willingness to talk about these subjects. “Sometimes I’ve done this activity and there is dead silence,” he told them.
In a discussion later in the week, students in Lisa Monahan’s 10th-grade biology class said the exercise hadn’t been uncomfortable because they know each other well and already talk about these topics. Monahan organized the MLK celebration, inviting Quinine and a panel of five local residents.
Other students, however, did find the exercise awkward. “It was weird to look people in the eye — it was really uncomfortable because he wanted us to judge each other by appearance,” said a seventh grader in Aspholm’s history class. “You wonder if you’re hurting a friend’s feelings.”
Quinine used the activity to encourage the students, teachers and community members who attended his talk to build understanding by engaging directly with one another.
American culture tends to advocate a tolerance-based approach, where people learn to be nice and get along — but not actually engage, said Quinine. “We are taught that if we become color-blind, racism will magically go away,” he said.
Quinine, a 6-foot, 6-inch-tall black man, talked about how he attracts attention — and not always positive attention — when he comes to the Methow Valley. He told students about these experiences, including an encounter when he was fishing on the Methow River that began when the man asked, “What the bleep are you doing here?”
Rather than reacting with anger, Quinine said he talked to the man about fishing, ultimately converting the situation from a potentially explosive one to a friendly exchange about the most effective lures and best spots on the river.
‘Shocking’ history
Documentaries about historical attitudes and beliefs — for example, experiments conducted by scientists to find genetic or physical differences they could attribute to race — stunned many of the students.
“They were so desperate for things to show difference — they measured their [blacks’] skulls to show they were not as smart. They were super-biased studies,” said a seventh grader.
Another documentary gave a classmate a new perspective on Thomas Jefferson. “He said everyone’s equal, but why did he have slaves?” she asked.
Students also learned how cultural attitudes can perpetuate socio-economic differences. One termed the vast historic gulf in the net worth of black and white families “pretty shocking.”
Some students admitted that it may be easier for them to learn to treat people differently than for an older generation. “Everyone is fine with the fact that we have a black president,” said one, although another acknowledged that “there’s people today who are uptight about skin color.”
Exploring difference in the Methow Valley
The MLK Day events provided an opening to a topic that may be easy to ignore in this area. As Quinine put it, “there is not a ton of diversity” in the Methow Valley. But he reminded his audience that there are many types of differences, including socio-economic status and gender orientation.
“Do you fear that, does it make you want to run away? What’s it like not to be in the dominant culture?” he asked them.
Students were able to imagine how that would feel. “It would suck to go to a school where everybody speaks English and you don’t know it,” said one.
Quinine, who grew up in Los Angeles, also contrasted urban and rural environments. Although rural areas may not have residents from as many different backgrounds, people find ways to segregate over other issues, he said.
“It made me realize that I want to go somewhere with more diversity and to experience different cultures,” said a 10th grader.
A seventh grader shared that view. “It would be nice to have racial differences, different perspectives and different cultures here,” she said.
According to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the student body at Liberty Bell in the 2013-14 school year was 90 percent white, 6 percent Hispanic or Latino, 4 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 0.4 percent black. Forty-one percent qualified for free or reduced meals.
Honest exchanges
In questions to Quinine and the panelists who led a discussion after his talk, students did not shy away from tough topics. They asked about police brutality and the “n-word.” One student spoke from personal experience when she said discrimination against gay and transgender people still seems to be acceptable.
Panelists were equally frank. As a child of light-skinned African Americans, musician Laura Love said she had grown up in white and black cultures in Nebraska and was in and out of orphanages and foster care. She recalled her mother’s reaction and grief when King was shot.
Storyteller Dayton Edmonds, a member of the Caddo Nation, grew up in a very rural environment, insulated from some of the mainstream attitudes toward Native Americans. English was his second language, learned in school along with less traditional lessons. “It was a real shocker to learn I was a second-class citizen,” said Edmonds.
As a white male heterosexual, Lee Hatcher said it is a lifelong learning process to understand what it means to be part of the group that created some of these problems. “Just being aware of class and white privilege is not enough,” he said.
“The presentation made me realize different stereotypes about people,” said one student. “Now I approach people with positive stereotypes and don’t jump to assumptions.”
A seventh grader was particularly impressed with Quinine’s interpretation of the Golden Rule — to treat people the way they want to be treated. “You should post that everywhere,” he said.
